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202
Joined
6/2/2019
Location
Jonestown, PA, USA
Anyone have any more of an update on when these are hitting the dealers. Was end of July. Last I had heard now it was end of August.
Any day were expecting ours.
The current official word is 8/15/25. I expect it will be sooner.
Looks like this guy took delivery of his.
Bump
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Why are there no media reports on the bike since becoming available? Is there some embargo like there was with the YZ450?
@ML512 any insight?
I was curious as well. Spoke with a few people who have them and they seem happy. Not much in aftermarket stuff available yet which is expected.
I did talk with JB @ Ride JBI as they have been testing on it for the last month or two. They seem impressed.
Picking one up later this week. Found what I thought was a decent deal compared to all my local dealers so said screw it. If I dont like it will be for sale and I will stick with my Yamaha. Love my yamaha but it is tiring...
I dunno. That seems like alot of money to spend for a bike that might be as good as all the rest you can get for thousands cheaper. With little to no aftermarket support and no idea about reliability, this seems like a big leap of faith to me. It will be interesting to see how it performs in the shootouts.
Not sure about thousands cheaper other than maybe suzuki or left over KX's. A 26 yamaha 450 retails at 10,300. Ducati retails at 11,500. Factory editions are even more. Its actually cheaper than I originally thought it would be. I can say quality wise seeing it and playing with it some it seems better than the other brands I have had but time will tell I guess.
I saw a used one for sale here in Tennessee. I just noticed the “550” typo instead of 450 and no it isn’t mine.
This is the chance you take if you decide to be an early adopter. Happens in tech all the time.
I saw that up for sale to. He also posted his stark at the same time. I was actually trying to see if he would sell the exhaust off it.
I get it. It would just be hard for me to justify paying 50% more for a bike that nobody knows anything about when I can get a ‘25 KX450 for about $8k out the door. Guess I’m too cheap to be an early adopter.
They haven't handed any out to the media yet. They contacted us about it coming up soon, but there were also some heavy restrictions around what can and can't be done with them and how long we could have them in our possession.
I saw one at Village Creek (DFW Motoplex) a couple weeks ago... I came around a corner and the rider was laying under it stuck .. my first thought was ohhh thats a Ducati
Thanks!
Quick review after 2.5 hours on it this weekend at one of our local mx tracks. Currently on a 24 YZ450 that I spent alot of time on making it as comfortable as I could.
Much easier to ride the ducati longer faster. The power is much more manageable. The bottom is a touch soft but the motor spools up super quick and never stops pulling. I was reading about people going up 2 teeth on the back. I think thats going to be to much. I am torn between letting the 49 on it or possibly going to a 50 tooth for tighter tracks. I had no problem carrying 3rd through most corners.
I swapped bars to the MX race bend and added akrapovik exahust. (The dealer offered me 30% off on it the day I bought the bike)
Feels much lighter and agile than my Yamaha when out on the track. Small inputs make big changes, especially in the air.
For me the Yamaha is tiring to ride fast and aggressive. The Ducati not whatsover. Its just very playful feeling. I really couldnt stop smiling while riding it.
As far as suspension I did go from a 4.6N shock spring to a 4.9N to get my sag correct before I rode it. Shock felt pretty good after some clicker adjustments. Forks I had to crank the compression in a bit to keep from bottoming to hard on big hits which was making smaller chatter/bumps harsh. I may need to go up a rate or add some more oil. I am 195lbs in street clothes.
Mapping is alittle on the rich side down low so I could see throwing a GET ecu on it in the future to clean it up some.
For a new bike I am honestly really impressed. Happy with my purchase.
If your thinking of getting one shop around. Not all dealers are adding all the fee's to them and there are deals out there.
Oh and 90 day warranty and I thought I had an issue with something and started a support ticket on Ducati's website and within 2 hours someone from Ducati was getting in touch with me to help any way possible.
What clickers adjustment did you do for moving to the 4.9 spring?
Seems linkage ratio is very similar to Austrian MX bikes with those spring rates.
Pit Row
I went 3 out on rebound as I was getting a packing sensation. Out 1/2 turn on HS and out 2 clicks on LS. I think I should actually be on a 4.8N. I had a 4.9 available locally that I could get quick. The shock felt decent. I have been on Ohlins inserts on my Yamaha forks for awhile now and they soak up chop and chatter like its not even there.
I was going to try adding some oil to forks so I could back the compression out some. I think they are supposed to be at 350cc stock. I also think I might need to bump up to a 5.1N from the stock 5.0.
Ducati have just announced the 'EDX' version of the 450.
2nd ride report.
Still tons of fun.
Added 20ccs of oil to the forks. That really helped. Was able to back out the compression alittle. Not much complaints here.
I think I went to stiff on the shock spring and I believe I have a 4.8kg im going to try laying around somewhere. Shock just feels overly stiff and having a hard time getting it to settle. I did try at the end of the day running more sag 107-109 and that really helped. After going back through the owners manual they are actually calling out for sag to be 105-115. It felt much more balanced with the higher sag numbers. Gonna try swapping the spring down and giving it a bit more sag.
Forks still at 5mm and no signs off knifing or headshake.
Let a couple friends take a few laps on it who are a bit faster then me. one who normally rides a yamaha and the other a husky and both came back saying how fast and easy to ride it was.
I have an ecu coming hopefully later this week. They are claiming a 2hp gain in bottom to mid just from cleaning up the tuning some. Should take care of the soft bottom end power. Along with bumping a tooth in the back should really wake it up down low.
It really is sneaky fast. Almost electric like power. Still a blast to ride.
Great input! That’s for the updates
What were you riding before the Ducati?
How’s the vibration? I noticed from the parts fiche Ducati went the KTM route and didn’t include a balance shaft. Does it vibrate like a KTM?
I wonder what parts availability will be like and time to get parts ?
KTM has a balance shaft.
Lopsided water pump gear doesn’t count.
24 YZ450
Limited aftermarket so far. OEM stuff seems to all be in stock in US at some of the larger Ducati parts warehouses. If its not in stock there its in stock in Italy which they are saying is an added 3-5 days. I checked top ends, clutches and some other wear parts and it was all available.
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